1.Chatbots
Chatbots will continue to be an important part of digital marketing in 2020. This AI-based technology uses instant messaging to talk in real-time, day or night, together with your customers or site visitors.
Surveys show that:
Chatbots will power 88% of customer service by 2021.
Top benefits of chatbots are 24-hour service (64%), instant responses to inquiries (55%), and answers to simple questions (55%)
63% of respondents prefer messaging a web chatbot to speak with a business or brand
By 2022, chatbots will help businesses save over $8 billion per annum
88% of businesses want chatbots by 2020:
Many customers prefer interacting with chatbots as they're responsive 24/7, give answers promptly, accurately recall your entire buying history, and never lose patience. These virtual assistants offer outstanding customer service by meeting customers’ expectations and automating repetitive tasks – which suggests that you simply can specialise in more important work.
Many brands already use chatbot technology, including rideshare brand Lyft. You can request a ride from Lyft via chat (Facebook Messenger and Slack) or voice (Amazon Echo), and their chatbot will allow you to know the present location of your driver:
Passengers can use the app to choose the type of ride, make a request, track the location of the car, send friends a time estimate of their arrival, and make payment.
Other brands that are successfully using chatbot technology include Whole Foods Market, Fandango, Sephora, Staples, The Wall Street Journal and Pizza Hut.
- Chatbots will power 85 percent of customer service by 2020. (Innovation Enterprise)
- 44 percent of executives believe artificial intelligence’s most important benefit is providing data that can be used to make decisions. (Chatbots Magazine)
- The top benefits of chatbots are 24-hour service (64 percent), instant responses to inquiries (55 percent) and answers to simple questions (55 percent). (The 2018 State of Chatbots Report)
- 63 percent of the people prefer messaging an online bot to communicate with a business or brand. (Mindshare)
- Chatbots are expected to cut business costs by $8 billion by 2022. (Impactbnd)
- 46 percent of Americans use digital voice assistants. (Pew Research Center)
- 72 percent of business executives believe digital assistants help make their lives easier. (PwC)
- 55 percent of people use digital voice assistants because it allows them to keep their hands free. (GO-Gulf)
- The growth of virtual assistants is expected to reach $15.79 billion by 2021. (ValueWalk)
- 50 percent of all online searches will be voice searches by 2020. (Campaign)
- In 2018, the worth of the virtual digital assistant market was $5.21 billion worldwide. (GO-Gulf)
2.Omnichannel Marketing
Omnichannel marketing was one of the buzzwords of 2019. While the phrase may now seem a touch wiped out , the strategy is as ripe and relevant as ever in 2020.
Omnichannel marketing is the process of marketing across multiple platforms (such as social media, apps, email and blog) so you can connect with prospects on more touchpoints. When you do omnichannel marketing right, you can offer an enhanced user experience and cohesive brand message that drives people to action.
To stay ahead, brands must present a seamless, consistent voice and message across all available mediums, including physical storefronts, social media channels, online, in catalogs and anywhere else you'll imagine. All channels should be linked in one all-encompassing strategy for the simplest results.
Stats show that brands using three or more channels in an automation workflow can generate great results:
- Engagement rate: 18.96% on omnichannel vs. 5.4% on single-channel
- Purchase frequency: 250% higher on omnichannel vs. single-channel
- Average order value: 13% more per order on omnichannel vs. single-channel
- Customer retention rates: 90% higher for omnichannel vs. single-channel
With ever-more sophisticated SaaS companies providing the tools to manage multiple channels more efficiently, it’s becoming easier to manage an omnichannel strategy, although it can be a challenge.
Users demand personalization and need to be ready to browse a physical store, view products on social media, and buy online. And if you’re not keeping up with their demands, someone else will get that business.
This is another area where AI and large data are playing a task by helping brands understand consumer behavior better and personalize at a private level at scale. Getting inside the top of your ideal customer’s buying journey is vital to actioning an efficient omnichannel approach.
